









C^' .>) 





.V 



■^i *o • i * 



L^- 

















rf - _ e 



,,/ 



^ Poetry t 
iKIAGARA 



NIAGARA 




.Frozen on the cliff appears, 
Like a giant^s starting: tears. 



Moore 




GENERAL VIEW - MOONLIGHT, 











Voetry 

of 

NIAGARA 




** Niagara ! wonder of this western world. 

And half the world beside ! hail beauteous queen 
Of cataracts I ** An angel who had been 
O'er heaven and earth, spoke thus, his bright 

wings furled. 
And kneh to Nature first, on this wild cliff unseen. 

Maria Brooks 

Compiled by 

cMyron T. Pritchard 

\ ! 




BOSTON 
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY 





T^c^v, ' 



THE LI8«ARV OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two Cop* as Receives 

AUG. 28 1901 

COPVRKJMT ENTRY 

CLASS <^XXu H: 
COPY B. 






COPYRIGHT, 
^ I 90 J, ^ 

BY 

LOTHROP 

P U B L I S H I NG 

COMPANY, 



NIAGARA 



^^^SHE f if st effect — the enduringf one — 
^^^ of the tremendous spectacle of Ni- 
agfara was peace — peace of mind, tran- 
quility, calm recollections of the dead, 
great thougfhts of eternal rest and happi- 
ness; nothingf of gloom or terror. Ni- 
agara was at once stamped upon my heart, 
an image of beauty, to remain there 
changeless and indelibly until its pulses 
cease to beat forever* 

Charles Dickens 



^Acknowledgment is hereby 

^iSQlB gff atefully made to Messts# Harper 
& Brothers^ Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & 
Company, The Century Company, and 
The Independent for permission to use 
copyrighted poems in this collection* 







T E N T S X 


B 


O N 




Page 


Falls of Niagara, 


J* G. C. Brainard 


n 


At Niagara, 


Richard Watson Gilder 


J3 


Niagara, 


Lydia Huntley Sigourney 


J5 


Niagara Falls, 


Lord Morpeth 


19 


The Niagara Fall, 


William EUery Channing 


21 


Niagara, 


Thomas Gold Appleton 


23 


Niagara, 


Henry Austin 


28 


Niagara, 


Wallace Bruce 


32 


Niagara, 


Jose Maria Heredia 


34 


Niagara, 


C. E, Whiton-Stone 


39 


Niagara Falls, 


William Allen 


42 


Niagara, 


Anonymous 


46 


Niagara, 


Henry Howard Brownell 


49 


Niagara, 


L H. Clinch 


56 


Goat Island, 


Thomas Gold Appleton 


65 


Nymph of Niagara, 


Samuel Lover 


67 


Niagara Above tfie Cataract, Qara J. Moore 


70 


Niagara Below the Cataract, Clara J. Moore 


72 


The Cataract Isle, 


Christopher P. Cranch 


74 



^ CONTENTS <^ 

Page 
The Leap of Niagara, Henry Pickering 78 

The "Whirlpool of Niagara River Viewed 

on a Sabbath Morning, Susan Hill Todd 80 
Niagara in Spring, William G. Richards 85 

Avery, William Dean Howells 9 J 

Niagara, George Kottghton 98 

Niagara, Willis G.Clark J27 

Niagara's Everlasting Voice, 

Joseph Rodman Drake J28 





ATIONS 


I^^IST OF ILLUSTR 




Page 


General View — Moonlight 


Frontispiece 


General View from New Bridge 


15 ' 


Prospect Point — Moonlight 


23 ^ 


Horse Shoe Falls from below 


29 


American Falls from below 


35 


American Falls from Goat Island 


43 - 


Horse Shoe Falls^ Canada, "Winter 


47 -'^ 


Cave of the "Winds 


53 


Horse Shoe Falls from Goat Island 


65 


Rapids above the Falls 


75 ' 


Great "Whirlpool Rapids — looking down 


8J " 


American Falls from Canada 


93 


View from Canada 


99 


Prospect Point — Winter 


J05 


Cave of the "Winds — Rock of Ages 


J09 ' 


Whirlpool Rapids 


n\ ' 



Poetry of cNi i a g a r a 



THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 




HE thougfhts are str angfe that crowd 
into my brain, 
While I look upward to thee* It would 

seem 
As if God poured thee from his hollow 

hand^ 
And hungf his bow upon thine awful front; 
And spoke in that loud voice, which 

seemed to him 
Who dwelt in Patmos for his Saviour's 

sake, 
The sound of many waters; and had 

bade 
Thy flood to chronicle the ages back, 
And notch His centuries in the eternal 

rocks* 



Poetry of 3% i a g a r a 



Deep calleth «nto deep* And what are 

WCf 

That hear the question of that voice sub- 
lime? 

Oh, what are all the notes that ever rung^ 

From wa/s vain trumpet, by thy thunder- 
in gf side? 

Yea, what is all the riot man can make 

In this short life, to thy unceasing; roar? 

And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to 
Him 

Who drowned a world, and heaped the 
waters far 

Above its loftiest mountains? — a ligfht 
wave. 

That breaks, and whispers of its Maker^s 
migfht. 

John Gardner Calkins Brainard 



12 




'Poetry of d'i^i a g a r a 



PCT NIAGARA 



HERE at tlie chasm^s edge behold 
hef lean 

Tfemblino- as, 'neath the charm, 
A wild h'itd lifts no wing to 'scape from 
harm; 
Her very soul drawn to the glittering 
green, 
Smooth, lustrous, awful, lovely curve of 

peril ; 
While far below the bending sea of beryl 
Thunder and tumult — whence a billowy 

spray 
Enclouds the day. 

What dream is hers? no dream hath 
wrought that spell! 



Poetry of cNi i a, g a r a 



The longf waves rise and sink ; 
Pity that virgfin soul on passion's brink, 
Confrontingf Fate — swift, unescapable, — 
Fate, which of nature, is the intent and 

core. 
And dark and strong: as the steep river's 

pour. 
Cruel as love, and wild as love's first kiss ! 
Ah, God! the abyss! 

R. W. Gilder 



14 




GENERAL VIEW FROM NEW ^BRIDGE, 




'Poetry of cNii a. g a. r a 



NIAGARA 



LO"W on forever, in thy §:lorious 
robe 

Of terror and of beauty^ Yea, flow on 
Unf athomed and resistless* God hath set 
His rainbow on thy forehead; and the cloud 
Mantled around thy feet* And He doth 

gfive 
Thy voice of thunder power to speak of 

Him 
Eternally, — bidding the lip of man 
Keep silence — and upon thy rocky altar 

pour 
Incense of awe-struck praise* 

Ah! who can dare 
To lift the insect-trump of earthly hope, 
Or love, or sorrow, mid the peal sublime 



15 



Poetry of cM^i a. g a r a 



Of thy tremendous liymn ? Even Ocean 
shrinks 

Back from thy brotherhood, and all his 
waves 

Retire abashed^ For he doth sometimes 
seem 

To sleep like a spent labourer, and recall 

His wearied billows from their vexing: 
play, 

And lull them to a cradle calm; but thou 

With everlasting*, undecayingf tide. 

Dost rest not, nigfht or day. The morn- 
ingf stars. 

When first they sangf o^er youngf cre- 
ation's birth. 

Heard thy deep anthem; and those 
wrecking: fires. 

That wait the archang:ers sigfnal to dis- 
solve 



Poetry of cNii a g a r a 



This solid earth, 'shall find Jehovah's 

name 
Graven, as with a thousand diamond 

spears 
On thine unending: volume. 

Every leaf, 
That lifts itself within thy wide domain, 
Doth g:ather gfreenness from thy living 

spray. 
Yet tremble at the baptism* Lo! — yon 

birds 
Do boldly venture near, and bathe their 

wingf 
Amid thy mist and foam. 'Tis meet for 

them 
To touch thy gfarment's hem, and lightly 

stir 
The snowy leaflets of thy vapour-wreath. 
For they may sport unharmed amid the 

cloud, 

17 



Poetry of cNi i a g a r a 



Of listen at the echoing^ gate of Heaven^ 
"Without reprooL But, as for us, it seems 
Scarce lawful, with our broken tones, to 

speak 
Familiarly of thee. Methinks, to tint 
Thy gflorious features with our pencil's 

point. 
Or woo thee to the tablet of a song, 
"Were prof anation^ 

Thou dost make the soul 
A wondering witness of thy majesty, 
But as it presses with delirious joy 
To pierce thy vestibule, dost chain its step. 
And tame its rapture with the humbling 

view 
Of its own nothingness, hi(i6in^ it stand 
In the dread presence of the Invisible, 
As if to answer to its God through thee. 

Lydia Kt^ntley Sigourney 



'Poetry of chQ i a g a r a 



NIAGARA FALLS 



^^ HERE'S 



nothing gfreat oi* brigfht^ 
lof lous Fall ! 
Thou maycst not to the fancy^s sense re- 
call, 
The thunder-riven cloud, the lightning's 

leap, 
The stirring of the chambers of the 

deep; 
Earth's emerald green, and many tinted 

dyes, 
The fleecy whiteness of the upper skies ; 
The tread of armies thickening as they 

come, 
The boom of cannon and the beat of 

drum; 
The brow of beauty and the form of 

grace, 

19 



Poetry of S^i a g a r 



The passion and the prowess of our race ; 
The song* of Homer in its loftiest hour, 
The unresisted sweep of human power ; 
Britannia's trident on the azure sea, 
America's youngf shout of Liberty ! 
Oh! may the waves which madden in 

thy deep 
There spend their ragfe nor climb the en- 
circling steep ; 
And till the conflict of thy surgfes cease, 
The nations on thy banks repose in peace. 

Lord Morpeth 



20 



'Poetry of S^i a. g a. r a 



THE NIAGARA FALL 




ta 



IS the boom of the fall with a heavy 
pour^ 

Solemn and slow as a thunder cloud. 
Majestic as the vast ocean's roar, 
Thfougfh the gffeen trees round its sing;- 

ingf crowd ; 
And the li§:ht is as green as the emerald 

§:rass, 
Or the wide-leaved plants in the wet mo- 

rass. 

It sounds over all, and the rushing storms 
Cannot wrinkle its temples, or wave its 

hair. 
It dwells alone in the pride of its form, 
A lonely thing in the populous ain 



21 



Poetry of 3^i a, g a, r a. 



From the hangings cliffs it whirls away, 
All seasons through, all the livelongf day. 

William EUery Channing 




PROSPECT POINT -MOONLIGHT, 



'Poetry of cNii a. g a r a 



mKQARK 



m 



HOUGH the dusk has extingfuished 
the gfreen 

And the glow of the down-fallingf silver^ 
In my heart I prefer this subdued^ 
Cathedral-Iike gfloom on the water : 
When the fancy capriciously wills, 
Nor loves to define or distinguish, 
As a dream which enchants us with fear ; 
And scarce throbs the heart unaffrighted. 

With a colour and voice of its own 
I behold this wondrous creature 
Move as a living thing* 
And joyous with Joy Titanic, 
Its brothers in sandstone are locked, 
Yet from their graves speak to it* 
It sings to them as it moves. 



23 



Poetry of cKi a g a r a 



And the hills and uplands re-echo, 
The sunshine kindles its scales, 
And they gleam with opal and sapphire. 
It uplifts its tawny mane. 
With its undulations of silver, 
And tosses through showers of foam, 
Its flanks seamed with shadow and sun- 
shine* 
Like the life of man is its course. 
Born far in some cloudy sierra, 
Dimpled and wayward and small. 
Overleaped by the swerving roebuck ; 
But enlarging with mighty growth. 
And wearing wide lakes for its bracelets, 
It moves, the king of streams. 
As man wears the crown of his manhood. 
It shouts to the loving fields, 
Which toss to it flowers and perfume ; 
It eddies and winds round its isles, 



24 



Poetry of c^C i a g a r a 



And its kisses thrill them with rapture ; 

Till it figfhts in its strength and over- 
comes 

The rocks which would bar its progress* 

The earth hears its cries of rage, 

As it tramples them in its rushing. 

Leaping, exultant above 

And smiting them in derision ; 

Till at length, its life fulfilled. 

Sublime in majestic calmness. 

It submits to death, and falls 

With a beauty it wins in dying, 

Still, wan, prone, till curtains of foam en- 
close it. 

To arise a spirit of mist. 

And return to the Heaven it came from* 

As deepens the night, all is changed, 
And the Joy of my dream is extinguished j 



25 



Poetry of 3^1 a, g a r a 



I hear but a measttreless prayer, 

As of multitudes wailing; in angfuish ; 

I see but one fluttering; plungfe, 

As if angfels were falling; from Heaven* 

Indistinctly, at times, I behold 

Cuthullin and Ossian^s old heroes 

Look at me with eyes sad with tears. 

And a summons to follow their flyingf. 

Absorbed in wild, eerie rout. 

Of wind-swept and desolate spectres. 

As deepens the night, a clear cry 

At times cleaves the boom of the waters ; 

Comes with it a terrible sense 

Of suffering; extreme and forever* 

The beautiful rainbow is dead. 

And gfone are the birds that sangf through 

it* 
The incense so mounting" is now 
A stiflingf, sulphurous vapour* 



Poetry of cN^ i a g a r a 



The abyss is the hell of the lost^ 
Hopeless falling to fires everlasting;. 

Thomas Gold Appleton 



27 



Poetry of cH,i a g a r a. 



NIAGARA 




PLENDOUR supreme of constant 
majesty^ 

Of toweringf passion, overpower ingf charm, 
At last, mine eyes behold thee as thou 

art — 
In all the lig^htness of thy movingf grace ; 
In all the whiteness of thy soaring" spray ; 
In all the brightness of thy might ! 

At last. 

Mine ears drink in thy voice miracu- 
lous, 

O plunging mountain full of thunder- 
songs 

Defiant or triumphant, echoing aye 

Through vasts of day and night I 



28 




HORSE SHOE FALLS FROM BELOW, 



Poetry of 3^ i a g a r a 



O Shape teyond 
All wingfed imagfcry of magic words 
Most musical, by ancient bards bequeathed 
To spell the hearts of ever-coming men, 
At last, I grasp, I clasp thee; and my 

soul. 
Struck speechless in thy Cavern of the 

Winds, 
Breathlessly burns with sharp, voluptuous 

ache 
To dash herself against thy torrent breast 
And join the awful Angels of thy fall 
Perpetual on the crags of Agony — 
Victorious Agony of glorious doom ! 

O perilous ht'tdgc 'mid gusts of dazzling 

pearl, 
Or where a diamond storm enshrouds the 

way* 



29 



Poetry of cJ^i a g a r a 



Thou secm'st like Life a span ^twixt Day 
and Nigfht ; 

For tho' eternal rainbows crown the rocks, 

Halos of Hope, charmed circles of higfh 
Faith, 

Commanding: entrance through thechasms 
of Doubt, 

To deeps of nobler knowledge and soul- 
strength. 

Yet all this beauty overwhelms the mind 

By clash of contrast with our littleness* 



So, Heart of Mine, 
Oh ! Heart of All, stand up and take the 

sun! 
Seize, for 'tis thine, thy sovereignty of 

Light! 
Night with her pale Infinitude of Stars^ 



30 



Poetry of d^ i a, g a r a 



Nor Ocean^ nor the Mountains, nor e'en 

Thou, 
Niagara, with all thy loveliness, 
Can match, in possibilities of growth 
To Power, to Beauty, to Sublimity, 
That noblest Mystery, the Soul of Man* 

Henry Austin 



31 



'Poetry of cNii a g a r a 



NIAGARA 




/ROUD swayingf pendant of a crystal 
chain^ 

On fair Columbia's rich and bounteous 
breast, 
With beaded lakes that necklace-Iike re- 
tain 
Heaven's stainless blue with gfolden sun- 
light blest! 
What other land can boast a §:em so 
brig;ht ! 
With colors born of sun and driven 
spray — 
A brooch of §flory, amulet of migfht. 

Where all the irised beauties softly stray. 
Ay, more — God's living voice, Niagara, 
thou! 



32 



Poetry of cNii a g a r 



Proclaiming wide the anthem of the 

free; 

The starry sky the.crown ttpon thy brow, 

Thy ceaseless chant a song: of Liberty. 

But this thy birthright, this thy sweetest 

dower, 
Yon archingf rainbow — Love still span- 
ning Power* 

"Wallace Br ttce 



33 




T o e t r y of cH^i a g a r a 



NIAGARA 



REMENDOUS torrent! for an in- 
stant hush 
The terrors of thy voice, and cast aside 
Those wide-involvingf shadows, that my 

eyes 
May see the fearful beauty of thy face ! 
I am not all unworthy of thy sigfht ; 
For from my very boyhood have I loved, 
Shunningf the meaner track of common 

minds, 
To look on Nature in her loftier moods* 
At the fierce rushingf of the hurricane. 
At the near burstingf of the thunderbolt, 
I have been touched with joy ; and when 

the sea, 
Lashed by the wind, hath rocked my 

bark, and showed 
34 




AMERICAN FALLS FROM BELOW, 



Poetry of 3^ i a g d r a 



Its yawning' caves beneath me^ I have 

loved 
Its dangers and the wrath of elements* 
But never yet the madness of the sea 
Hath moved me as thy grandeur moves 
me now* 

Thou flowest on in quiet, till thy waves 
Grow broken midst the rocks ; thy current 

then 
Shoots onward like the irresistible course 
Of Destiny* Ah, terribly they rage — 
The hoarse and rapid whirlpools there! 

My brain 
Grows Nnldf my senses wander, as I gaze 
Upon the hurrying waters ; and my 

sight 
Vainly would follow, as towards the 

verge 



35 



Poetry of cH^ i d g a, r a 



Sweeps the wide torrent. Waves innu- 
merable 

Meet there and madden — waves innu- 
merable 

Urge on and overtake the waves before. 

And disappear in thunder and in foam. 
They reach, they leap the barrier — the 
abyss 

Swallows insatiable the sinking; waves. 

A thousand rainbows arch them, and the 
woods 

Are deafened with the roar. The violent 
shock 

Shatters to vapour the descending; sheets. 

A cloudy whirlwind fills the gfulf, and 
heaves 

The migfhty pyramid of circling; mist 

To Heaven. The solitary hunter near 

Pauses with terror in the forest shades. 



36 



Poetry of c/^i a g a r a 



What seeks thy restless eye } "Why are 
not here, 
About the joys of this abyss, the palms — 
Ah, the delicious palms — that on the 

plains 
Of my own native Cuba springf and spread 
Their thickly foliaged summits to the 

sun. 
And, in the breathing's of the ocean air, 
Wave soft beneath the heaven's unspotted 

blue? 



But no, Niagfara — thy forest pines 
Are fitter coronal for thee* The palm. 
The effeminate myrtle, and frail rose may 

grow 
In gardens, and give out their fragrance 

there. 
Unmanning him who breathes it* Thine 

it is 



Poetry of cJ^i a g a r a 



To do a nobler office. Generous minds 
Behold thee, and are moved, and learn to 

rise 
Above earth's frivolous pleasures; they 

partake 
Thy gfrandeur, at the utterance of thy 

name« 

Jose Maria Heredia 



33 



'Poetry of cNii a g a r 



NIAGARA 



^^^11; HAT wild convulsion in the ages 

Shook thee to such immeasurable unrest, 
Oh, mad Nia§:ara? Did the hugfe crest 
Of some black mountain, splintered by a 

blast 
From Heaven down-bolted, leave these 

fissures vast 
Whence rush thy waters ? Or was ocean 

pressed 
From its storm-beaten shores, to dash thy 

breast 
And hurl out ragfe from thee, while Time 

shall last? 

Rage on, imperial mystery, that 
thou art; 



39 



Poetry of 3^i a g a, r a 



Chance, in tlie azoic age, with 
wonders rife, 

At mandate of the gods, from out 
earth's heart, 

In embryo doomed to everlasting 
strife. 

Thou sprang'st defiant, thunder- 
ing to thy part. 

Magnificent and terrible, as Life* 

Rage on, for giant raging thou may 'st 

show. 
Through veins that interlace the land, 

thy power. 
And with thy foaming passion, bring to 

flower 
The genius of man; may'st writhing 

'Like a colossal serpent, to and fro, 



40 



Poetry of cNii a g a r a. 



"Wmding: thro«g:h ribs of steel that mas- 
sive tower^ 
And so imprisoned, strike the zenith hour 
When science shall supremest secret know : 
I liken thee to soul wherein is 

pent 
Divinest madness, that son^ surg-- 

ingf keeps, 
^Tili by unconquerable forces rent, 
To mighty music it majestic 

sweeps. 
As the great Odyssey blind Homer 

sent 
Crashing sublimely down eternal 
steeps. 

C. E, Chiton-Stone 



41 



T" o e t r y of 3C i a. g a r a 




NIAGARA FALLS 



5^0 Niagara! down the depth pro- 
found 

PIung:es thy broad and mighty gleaming 
floods 

Fed by vast lakes^ in symbol union bound. 

On Table Rock, now fallen, in youth I 
stood 

Gazing on all the scene in rapturous mood. 

There, at my level, the majestic stream 

O'er long curved cliff, with ample pleni- 
tude. 

Begins its stoop in regular bending gleam ; 

Then falls till shape is lost in foam and 
misty steam* 

Perched on thin leaf of overhanging 
rock, 

42 




cAMERICAN FALLS FROM GOAT ISLAND, 



Poetry of 3^i a, g a, t a. 



I venture to the cd§:e and look below ; 

I see the eddying; depth ; and feel the shocks 

The shore all trembling at the earthquake 
blow* 

Ah, what if sudden dizziness should grow. 

As, at Passaic cliff, in her who fell ? 

Or what if shock my foothold ledge over- 
throw, 

And to abyss I sink with loosenM shell ? 

The solitary fate no tongue could tell. 

But though no brother man with me 
6kii stand, 
Yet God was there who scooped the basin 

wide 
And poured the flood out from his hollow 

hand. 
Yet God was there, whose voice on cv^ry 

side 



43 



Poetry of cN^i d g a r a 



Issued in thunders from the angry tide^ 

Yet God was there, the cloud-built arch to 
rear, 

With mingled hues of beauteous bright- 
ness dyed, 

Symbol once caused o^ct wider flood f 
appear. 

Blest pledge of earth's escape from destiny 
severe* 

Stand here, mortal presumptuous! and 
say — 

While ear is stunned with torrent's cease- 
less roar, 

And solid rocks do tremble with dismay — 

Cannot God's hand the flood of ven- 
geance pour. 

To sweep the proud, where they will boast 
no more ? 



44 



T o e t r y of cHii a g a r a 



Let warring tribes this voice of thunder 

hear, 
And hush their rage, lest whirlpool wrath 

devour I 
Christian ! the bow of promise shines forth 

clear, 
And thou mayst smile secure, when earth 

shall quake with fear* 

William Allen 



45 



'Poetry of cNii a g a r a 



NIAGARA 



^W(^ STOOD within a vision^s spell ; 
^^J I saw^ I hear d* The liquid thander 
Went poufing: to its foamingf hell, 
And it fell, 
Ever, ever fell. 
Into that invisible abyss that opened under. 

I stood upon a speck of ground ; 
Before me fell a stormy ocean. 
I was like a captive bound ; 
And around 
A universe of sound 
Troubled the heavens with ever-quiver- 
ing motion* 

Down, down forever — down, down for- 
ever, 

46 



%»«..'? 



%J 



■^ 







:2§ 



HOJ^SE SHOE FALLS. CANADA. WINTER, 



Poetry of ^{^i a g a r a 



Somethingf falling;, falling;, falling;, 
Up, up forever — up, up iotcvct, 

Resting; never, 

Boiling; up forever, 
Steam-clouds shot up with thunder-bursts 
appalling;. 

A tone that since the birth of man 
Was never for a moment broken, 
A v^ord that since the world beg;an, 

And waters ran. 

Hath spoken still to man — 
Of God and of Eternity hath spoken. 



And in that vision, as it passed, 

Was g;athered terror, beauty, power ; 
And still, when all has fled, too fast> 

And I at last 

Dream of the dreamy past. 



47 



Poetry of cJ^i a g a r a 



My heatt is full when lingferingf on that 
hour* 

Anonymotis 



48 



T o e t r y of c^i a g a r 



NIAGARA 



I^^AS augfht like this descended, since 
J4p^i^> the fountains 

Of the Great Deep broke up, in catar- 
acts hurled, 
And climbing: lofty hills, eternal moun- 
tains, 
Poured wave on wave above a buried 
world ? 



Yon tides are ragfing-, as when storms 
have striven. 
And the vexed seas, awaking* from 
their sleep. 
Are rougfh with foam, and Neptune's 
flocks are driven 
In myriads o'er the g:reen and a^ure 
deep. 

49 



Poetry of chii a g a r a 



Ere yet they fall, mark (where that 
nugfhty current 
Comes like an army from its mountain 
home) 
How fiercely yon wild steeds amid the 
torrent, 
With their dark flanks, and manes and 
crests of foam, 

Speed to their doom — yet in the awful 
centre, 
Where the wild waves rush madliest to 
the steep. 
Just ere that white unf athomed gulf they 
enter, 
Rear back in horror from the headlong; 
leap; 

Then, maddeningf, plung^e — a thousand 
more succeeding 

50 



Poetry of 3{^ i a g a, r a 



Sweep onwar dy troop on troop, again to 
urge 
The same fierce flight, as rapid and un- 
heeding — 

Again to pause in terror on the verge^ 

Oft to an eye half closed, as if in solving 
Some mighty, mystic problem — half it 
seems 
Like some vast crystal wheel, ever re- 
volving, 
Whose motion, earth's — whose axle, 
earth's extremes* 

"We gaze and gaze, half lost in dreamy 
pleasure. 
On all that slow majestic wave reveals. 

While Fancy idly, vainly strives to mea- 
sure 



51 



Poetry of c^{^i a g a r a 



How vast the cavern which its veil con- 
ceals* 

Whence come ye, O wild waters? by 
what scenes 

Of Majesty and Beauty have ye flowed. 
In the wide continent that intervenes, 

Ere yet ye mingle in this common road? 

The Mountain Kingf, upon his rocky 

throne, 

Laves his broad feet amid your rushing; 

streams. 

And many a vale of loveliness unknown 

Is softly mirrored in their crystal gfleams. 

They come — from haunts a thousand 
Iea§:ues away, 
From ancient mounds, with deserts wide 
between, 

52 




CAVE OF THE WINDS. 



Poetry of cNii a, g a r a 



Cliffs, whose tall summits catch the part- 
ing: day, 
And prairies bloomingf in eternal green ; 

Yet the bright valley, and the flower-lit 
meadow, 
And the drear waste of wilderness, all 
past — 
Like that strangle Life, of which thott art 
the shadow. 
Must take the inevitable plunge at last» 

Whither we know not — but above the 
wave 
A gentle, white-robed spirit sorrovv'-ing 
stands, 
Type of the rising from that darker grave. 
Which waits the wanderer from Life's 
weaty lands. 



53 



Poetry of cN^i a g a r a 



How long- these wondrous forms, these 
colors splendid, 
Their gflory o'er the wilderness have 
thrown! 
How long that mighty anthem has as- 
cended 
To Him who wakened its eternal tone! 

That everlasting utterance thou shalt 
raise, 
A thousand ages ended, still the same. 
When this poor heart, that fain would 
add its praise. 
Has mouldered to the nothing whence 
it came. 

When the white dwellings of man's busy 
brood, 
Now reared in myriads o'er the peo- 
pled plain, 

54 



Poetry of cNii a g a r a 



Like snows have vanished, and the an- 
cient wood 
Shall echo to the eag-Ie's shriek agfain^ 

And all the restless crowds that now re- 
joice. 
And toil and traffic, in their eagfer 
moods, 
Shall pass — and nothing: save thine awful 
voice 
Shall break the hush of these vast soli- 
tudes. 

Henry Howard Brownell 



55 



Poetry of S^i a g a. r a 



NIAGARA 



^^ESCRIBE Niagara! Ah, who shall 
^^^ dare 

Attempt the indescribable, and train 

Thougfht's fra§:ile wingf to skim the heavy- 
air, 

Wet with the cataract^s incessant rain? 

The gflowingf ''muse of fire*' invoked in 
vain 

By Shakespeare, who shall hope from 
Heaven to win? 

And '' burning- words '* alone become the 
strain, 

Which to the mind would bring the awful 
din 

Where seas in thunder fall, and eddying 
oceans spin* 



56 



T o e t r y of S^i a g a r a 



Longf had the savage on thy glorious 
shroud, 

Fringed with vast foam-wreaths, gaz'd 
with stoic eye 

And deemed that on thy rising rainbow 
cloud 

The wings of the Great Spirit hovered 
nigh; 

And, as he marked the solemn woods re- 
ply 

In echoes to thy rolling thunder tone, 

He heard His voice upon the breeze go by. 

And his heart bowed — for to the heart 
alone 

God speaking through His works, makes 
what he utters known. 



But ages passed away — and to the West 
Came Europe's sons to seek for fame or 
gold; 

57 



Poetry of S^ i a. g a, r a. 



And one, perchance, more daring- than the 
rest, 

Lured by the chase or by strange stories 
told 

By Indian guide of oceans downward 
rolled, 

Felt on his throbbing ear thy far-off roar. 

Then sped the mighty wonder to behold. 

Thy voice around him and thy cloud be- 
fore. 

Till breathless — trembling — rapt — he 
trod thy foaming shore* 

Upward he gazed to where with furious 

hiss 
The waters spurn the precipice and leap 
Into the vexed and indistinct abyss. 
Where Rage and Tumult ceaseless battle 
keep. 



58 



Poetry of S^i a g a r d 



Fillingf with roar monotonous and deep, 
The wearied echo; — there he fixed his 

gaze, 
Like one entranced who fears to break 

his sleep, 
Lest the wild vision fade that sleep doth 

raise, 
All thought locked up and chained in 

stern and strange amaze* 

Till, slowly rallying from the first sur- 
prise. 

Thought from its magic prison breaks at 
last — 

The gazer from the foam-whirl lifts his 
eyes, 

And scans the whole arena wild and vast ; 

From point to point his eager glances cast. 

Take by degrees thy wide circumference in. 



59 



! 
Poetry of cNii a, g a r a 



And as his speechless wonder slowly 

passed, 
Deligfht succeeded, deep, intense and keen, 
Heart, soul and sense absorbed in that un- 
rivalled scene* 

Then througfh his mind like lig:htnin§f 

flashed the thought. 
Once o'er the Patriarch's soul in Bethel 

thrown, 
''Sure, God is with me, and I knew it 

not; 
I see His power in yon majestic zone 
Of migfhty waters, and its thunder tone 
Brings to my ear His voice — and deeply 

felt 
And almost seen His presence reigns 

alone/' 
Then meekly by the rock the wanderer 

knelt, 
60 



T o e t r y of c/^ i a g a r a 



Feelingf in awe and love his heart's full 
fountain melt* 

And long with shaded eye and bended 

head 
He prayed before the Temple's wondrous 

veil, 
While from its foot, in ceaseless eddies 

spread, 
The mist-cloud rose, like incense, on the 

§fale; 
And half he deemed that on its pinion 

frail 
His prayers, upborne, would blessed ac- 
ceptance know. 
He rose with gladdened eye and heart to 

hail 
Mercy's fair type and seal, the rainbow's 

glow 



6i 



Poetry of 3^i a. g a, r a 



Spanning with calm embrace the troubled 
scene below. 

And when the westering daybeam warned 

him back, 
Lingering he stood, as spellbound by the 

strain, 
And oft he started on his homeward track, 
And oft returned, one parting glance to 

gain; 
And twilight had usurped its fitful reign 
Ere to thy foam his last farewell he bade. 
Then like an arrow, o'er the woody plain, 
Homeward he hurried through the deep- 
ening shade, 
Again in dreams to view thy wonders 
round him spread. 

And oft alone, and oft with friends, he 

came 
62 



Poetry of c^C i d g a r a 



To scan thy charms and worship at thy 

shrine^ 
And feel agfain devotion's hallowed flame 
Blaze in thy presence, fanned with breath 

divine: 
And oft from morningf until day's decline 
He sat and mused beside thee, for his eye 
Saw nowhere majesty and gfracc like thine: 
And in his soul thy migfhty minstrelsy 
Woke stern and glorious thoughts and 

visions wild and high* 



In silence long forgot the wanderer sleeps: 
But still as when thou met'st his startled 

gaze, 
Thy glorious scene the heart in wonder 

steeps 
Of him who seeks thee in these later days: 
Sublime in simple grandeur! Art can 

raise 

63 



Poetry of ^i 


a g d r a 


No rival to thy throne, nor words convey 
Thine image to the mind, though noblest 

lays 
Have vied in thy description* Day by day 
Thy roar shall speak of God till nature 

fade away. 




L H. Clinch 


64 


' 



^^^^M'|ar%^^ mm^^^- 




si 

m 



HORSE SHOE FALLS FROM GOAT ISLAND. 



Poetry of cNi i a g a r a 



GOAT ISLAND 




'EACE and perpetual quiet arc 
around, 

Upon the erect and dusky file of stems, 

Sustaining yon far roof, expellingf sound, 

Throu§:h which the sky sparkles (a rain 
of gems 

Lost in the forest's depth of shade), the 
sun 

At times doth shoot an arrow of pure 
ofold. 

Flecking majestic trunks with hues of 
dun, 

Veining their barks with silver, and be- 
traying 

Secret initials tied in true love knots ; 

Of hearts no longer through green alleys 
straying^ 



T o e t r y of cH^i a g a r a 



But stifled in the world's distasteful gff ots* 
The silence is monastic, save in spots 
Where heaves a gflimmer of uncertain 

light. 
And rich wild tones enchant the wood- 
land night. 

Thomas Gold Appleton 



66 



Poetry of cNi i a g a r a 



NYMPH OF NIAGARA' 



^^^YMPH of Niagara! Sprite of the 
W^^ mist! 
With a wild magic my brow thou hast 

kissed ; 
I am thy slave, and my mistress art thou, 
For thy wild kiss of magic is still on my 
brow* 

1 feel it as first when I knelt before thee, 
"With thy emerald robe flowing brightly 

and free,"* 

Fringed with the spray-pearls and float- 
ing in mist, 

Thus 't was my brow with wild magic 
you kissed* 

^ Written immediately after leaving the Falls. 

2 The water in the centre of the great fall is intensely green and 
of gem-like brilliancy, 

67 



Poetry of cH^i a g a r a. 



Thine am I still, and I '11 never fot§:et 

The moment the spell on my spirit was 
set; 

Thy chain but a foam-wreath, yet 
stronger by far 

Than the manacle, steel-wroug:ht, for cap- 
tive of wan 

For the steel it will rust, and the war will 
be oVr, 

And the manacled captives be free as be- 
fore; 

While the foam- wreath will bind me for- 
ever to thee ; 

I love the enslavement and would not be 
free! 

Nymph of Niagfara! play with the breeze. 
Sport with the fawns 'mid the old forest 
trees; 

68 



y o e t r y 


o f <5y] i d g a r a 


Blush into rainbows at kiss of the sun^ 
From the gleam of his dawn till his bright 
course be rum 


I '11 not be jealous, for pure is thy sport- 
ing, 

Heaven-bom is all that around thee is 
courting; 

Still will I love thee, sweet Sprite of the 
mist, 

As first when my brow with wild magic 
you kissed ! 




Samuel Lover 




69 



T o e t r y of d^i a g a r a 



NIAGARA ABOVE THE 
CATARACT 



IVER of banks and woods and 
waters gfreen^ 
With all of beauty to attract the eye^ 
Why leaps my hearty as past thy shores 

we fly ? 
Art thou not quiet as an infant's 

dream, 
Pure as its thoughts, unruffled as its 

brow 
When circled by its mother's arms in 

sleep, 
While o'er it she doth still her vigfil keep ? 
Then wherefore leaps my heart so wildly 

now? 
Hark to that roar, deep as the thunder's 

tone, 

70 



Poetry of S^ i a g a r a 



And in the distance see the sun's last 

ray 
Falling: on clouds of never-ceasingf spray* 
In its wild beatingfs is my heart alone ? 
Thou gflidest on to meet that battlingf 

flood, 
Fearless as warrior to the field of blood ! 

Clara J. Moore 



7X 



Poetry of 3^ i a g a r a. 



NIAGARA BELOW THE 
CATARACT. 



ITHIN a temple's toweringf walls 




A temple vast ; the heaven is its dome* 
No corniced crag was hewn by human 
hand, 
Nof by it wfougfht the tracery of foam ; 
The inlaid floor of emerald and pearl 
Heaves at the hidden orgfan's thun- 
derous peal, 
While round and up the clouds of in- 
cense curl, 
Shrouding the chancel where the bil- 
lows kneeL 
Ah! bow your heads* It is a fitting 
place 



72 



T o e t r y of ff^i a g a r a 



For solemn thougfht, for deep and ear- 
nest prayer ; 
For here the fingfer of our God I trace, 
Beneath, above, around me, every- 
where ; 
He hollowed out this gfrand and mighty 

nave, 
And robed his altar with the ocean 
wave! 

Qara J. Moore 



73 



'Poetry of cNii a. g a r a 



THE CATARACT ISLE 



j^ 



^1^ WANDERED through the ancient 
^^) wood 

That crowns the cataract isle. 
I heard the roaringf of the flood 

And saw its wild, fierce smile. 

Through tall tree-tops the sunshine 
flecked 

The huge trunks and the ground ; 
And the pomp of fullest summer decked 

The island all around* 

And winding paths led all along 
Where friends and lovers strayed ; 

And voices rose with laugh and song 
From sheltered nooks of shade* 



74 




%APIDS cABOVE THE FALLS. 



Poetry of S^i a g a r a 



Through opening: forest vistas whirled 

The rapids' foamy flashy 
As they boiled along; and plungfed and 
swirled, 

And neared the last longf dash. 

I crept to the island's outer vergfe, 
Where the grand, broad river fell — 

Fell sheer down mid foam and sur§:e, 
In a white and blinding hell ! 

The steady rainbow gayly shone 

Above the precipice ; 
And a deep, low tone of a thunder-groan 

Rolled up from the drear abyss* 

And all the day sprang up the spray, 
Where the broad, white sheets were 
poured. 

And fell around in showery play. 
And upward curled and soared* 



T o e t r y of 3^ i a g a r a 



And all the nig^ht those sheets of white 
Gleamed througfh the spectral mist, 

When o'er the isle the broad moonlight 
The wintry foam-flakes kissed^ 

Mirrored within thy dreamy thougfht, 

I see it, feel it all — 
That island with sweet visions fraogfht, 

That awful waterfall. 

With sun-flecked trees, and Birds, and 
flowers, 
The Isle of Life is fair : 
But one deep voice thrills through its 
hours. 
One spectral form is there ! 

A power no mortal can resist, 

Rolling forever on — 
A floating cloud, a shadowy mist. 

Eternal undertone ! 

76 



Poetry of cfi.i a, g a r a 



And thtougfh the sunny vistas gleam 
The fate, the solemn smile ; 

Life is Niagara's rushing stream, 
Its dreams — that peaceful isle ! 



C. P. Cranch 



77 



'Poetry of 3C i a g a r a 



THE LEAP OF NIAGARA 



j^^jOAR loisdf ye winds! ye awful thun- 
ders peal ! 



And instant rouse them from their fatal 

sleep^ 
Ere (cruel chance) they sink amid the 

deep, 
Whose secrets Death permits not to reveaL 

They wake! O heavens! "What now 

avails their zeal ? 
Precipitous their maddening; course they 

keep; 
And reeling; now they make the shud- 

deringf leap, 
Down-dashed 'mid watery worlds with 

all their weal! 



78 



Poetry of cM^i a g a r a 



And thus are they iotgoi I Not such the 
fate 

Of that immortal maid — enchantress 
sweet — 

"Who from Lucadia's rock (provoked by- 
Hate) 

Plungfed fearless in the waves that round 
it beat. 

Her name the sigfhing winds still breathe 
around. 

And Sappho, all the mournful caves re- 
sound* 

Henry Pickering 



79 




'Poetry of c^ i a g a r a 



THE WHIRLPOOL OF NIAGARA 
RIVER VIEWED ON A SAB- 
BATH MORNING 



was a Sabbath of the Sou!''; 
heard the distant cataract roll 
Its choral anthem higfh, 
Whilst from the forest's deep repose 
A breath of mingled fragfrance rose, 
Like incense to the sky 

Its azure dome was o'er my head, 
The gfreen leaves started at my tread, 

As if disturbed in prayer ; 
'T was nature's worship — we alone 
Could jar its harp-stringfs — not a tone 

But breathed in concert there. 



80 




GREAT WHIRLPOOL RAPIDS ~ LOOKING 
DOWN, 



Poetry of d^i a, g a, r a. 



I saw^ below my verdant seat^ 
The swift Niagfara at my feet, 

As in a prison bound ; 
A rocky bed, with gfraceful bend 
And narrow outlets at each end. 

Encircled it around* 

While the proud rapids seem to pause 
Indigfnantly to view the cause 

Of their unwont delay — 
In solemn majesty, they turned, 
Lingerin§f, as if themselves they spurned, 

In durance thus to stay* 



In circlingf eddies round and round, 
I saw the careless driftwood bound. 

And watched it on its way. 
Borne §:ayly on the rapids' crest. 
Till on the water-gfiant's breast. 

The passive victim lay* 

8i 



T o e t r y of c^i a g a r a 



"Within the whii^Ipoors false embrace, 
Condemned with never-ceasing pace 

Their aimless course to run, 
Without a hope or gfoal in view, 
An endless journey to pursue, 

Beginningf, never done* 

Yet viewlessly those links confine. 
Brighter than diamond sparks they 

shine, 

And merrily they flow, 
"Whilst each fair shore stands smiling 

by, 
And still the dancing waters fly. 
To music, as they go* 

And then I felt like one who dreams. 
And all his airy visions deems 

Realities of life; 
The senseless logs like men were seen, — 

82 



i 



i 



Poetry of ^i a g a r a 



A metamorphosis, I ween. 

Not much with truth at strife* 

For h not human life a stream. 

Whose rapids (cares and pleasures) seem 

To us but infantas play, 
Till, into passion's current hurled. 
Amid its restless vortex whirled, 

We chase the hours away ? 

"What are the chains the hands have 

wrougfht ? 
The strong-est chain is made of thought. 

The poet said of yore ; 
Spellbound by habit, thus we see, 
The ocean of eternity. 

Yet seek its bliss no more. 

O would we nature's lessons read. 
And draw our pure, exalted creed 
From her celestial lore, 

83 



Poetry of S^i a g a r a 



All earth would then be hallowed gfround. 
In every stream some virtue found 
The spirit^s woes to cure^ 

Susan Hill Todd 



84 



'Poetry of S^i a g a r a 



NIAGARA IN SPRING 




H^ could I gaze forever on thy face, 
^ Unwearied still, thou matchless 
waterfall, 
Whose twining: spells of majesty and g-race 
My ardent sense bewilder and enthrall ! 

In all my moods thy charms^ puissant 

sway 
Enforce my will their master-spell to own; 
My heart leaps at thy voice — or gfrave 

or g:ay — 
And every chord is vibrant to thy tone* 

So many years I have come back to stand, 
"With reverent awe, before thy glorious 
shrine — 



85 



y o e t r y 


of cJ^i a g a r a 


So close and 


long thy lineaments IVe 


scanned — 




It seemed thou should'st §ffow somethingf 


less divine* 




I know thy face, its shifting; g^Iooms and 


smiles, 




As cloud or sun upon thy bosom lies ; | 


Thy wrathful 


guise, thy witching rain- 


bow wiles 




Can wake no 


more for me the sweet sur- 


prise* 




I know thy voice — its terror and its glee 


Have in my ear so oft their changes rung ; 


Nor forest winds nor anthems of the sea 


Speak to my 


soul with more familiar 


tongue* 




My feet have scaled thy storm-scarred | 


battlements, 




86 





Poetry of cNH a g a r a 



And pressed the moss most emerald with 

thy tears ; 
And still profaned thy lucent caverns^ 

whence 
The neophyte comes pale with ghostly 

fears^ 

Yet, as the more of God the soul perceives, 
And nigfher Him is drawn, it worships 

more; 
So, in my heart, its matchless beauty 

leaves 
Constraint, in thine. His grandeur to adore» 

Within thy courts I come this vernal day. 
Ere Fashion's chimes invite the thought- 
less throng ; 
Almost alone I watch thy curling spray. 
And lose my breath to swell thy ceaseless 
song* 

87 



Poetry of cM^i a, g a r a 



I mark the flowers upon thy mar§fe that 

blow^ 
Sweet violets and campanule^s white hells; 
Their azure shines unblanched, unblushed 

their snow : 
These timid thin§:s feel not^ as I, thy 

spells* 

And in thy woods the birds heed not thy 
roar, 

Where the brown thrush and painted 
oriole, 

All unabashed, their tides of song out- 
pour. 

As if thy floods in terror 616. not rolL 

They do not know the flowers and birds 

around. 
How wonderful, how gfrand, how dread 

thou art I 

88 



Poetry of 3^ i a, g a, r a. 



But I, transfixed by every sight and 

sound, 
Stand worshippings thy Maker, in my 

heart* 

I must %o back where tides of commerce 

flow, 
And the dull roar of traffic cleaves the air ; 
But in my heart sweet memories shall 

glow, 
And to my dreams shall summon visions 

fair. 

Niagara! thou wilt freshen all my 
thought. 

And cool the breath of fevered noons for 
me! 

My days shall lapse with thy remem- 
brance fraught. 

Thy voices chant my nights^ weird lullaby. 



Poetry of cJ^i a g a r a 



QttdX torrent, speed thee to the lake and 
sea, 

"With tireless smoke of spray and thun- 
derous roar ; 

I Bless my God for all thy joy to mc^ 

Thougfh I should see thy marvelous face 
no more* 

W. C. Richards 



90 



"Poetry of c^ i a g a r a 



AVERY. 1853 



I. 



)m 



LL night long; they heard in the 
houses beside the shore. 
Heard, or seemed to hear, througfh the 

muhitudinotis roar, 
Out of the hell of the rapids as 't were a 

lost soul's cries, — 
Heard and could not believe; and the 

morning: mocked their eyes. 
Showing where wildest and fiercest the 

waters leaped and ran 
Raving round him and past, the visage 

of a man 
Clinging, or seeming to cling, to the trunk 

of a tree that, caught 
Fast in the rocks below, scarce out of the 

surges raught» 

91 



Poetry of cNi i a, g a r a 



Was it a life, could it he, to yon slender 
hope that clung; ? 

Shrill, above all the tumult, the answer- 
ing; terror rung-* 



IL 



Under the weltering; rapids a boat from 
the hridg;e is drowned, 

Over the rocks the lines of another are 
tang;led and wound ; 

And the long;, fateful hours of the morn- 
ing; have wasted soon, 

As it had been in some blessed trance, 
and now it is noon* 

Hurry, now with the raft ! But O, build 
it strong; and staunch. 

And to the lines and treacherous rocks 
look well as you launch ! 



92 




cAMERICAN FALLS FROM CANADA, 



Poetry of c/^i a g a r a 



Ovct the foamy tops of the waves, and 

their foam-spr ent sides, 
Over the hidden reefs, and througfh the 

embattled tides, 
Onward rushes the raft, with many a 

lurch and leap, — 
Lord! if it strike him loose, from the hold 

he scarce can keep ! 
No! througfh all peril unharmed, it 

reaches him harmless at last. 
And to its proven strength he lashes his 

weakness fast^ 
Now, for the shore? But steady, steady, 

my men, and slow ; 
Taut, now, the quiveringf lines; now 

slack ; and so, let her g-o ! 
Thronging the shores around stand the 

pitying multitude ; 
Wan as his own are their looks, and a 

nightmare seems to brood 

93 



Poetry of c^ i a g a r a 



Heavy upon them, and heavy the silence 
hangfs on all. 

Save for the rapids' plun§fe, and the thun- 
der of the falL 

But on a sudden thrills from the people 
still and pale, 

Chorusing: his unheard despair, a desper- 
ate wail : 

Caugfht on a lurkingf point of rock, it 
sways and swingfs. 

Sport of the pitiless waters, the raft to 
which he clings* 



m* 



All the longf afternoon it idly swings and 

sways : 
And on the shore the crowd lifts up its 

hands and prays : 



94 



I 



Poetry of cN^i a g a r a. 



Lifts to Heaven and wringfs the hands so 

helpless to save, 
Prays for the mercy of God on him whom 

the rock and the wave 
Battle for, fettered betwixt them, and 

who, amidst their strife, 
Strugfgles to help his helpers, and fights so 

hard for his life, — 
Ttjgfgfing at rope and at reef, while men 

weep and women swoon* 
Priceless second by second, so wastes the 

afternoon. 
And it is sunset now; and another boat 

and the last 
Down to him from the bridgfe through 

the rapids has safely passed* 

IV* 

"Wild through the crowd comes flying a 
man that nothing can stay, 

95 



Poetry of oA(] i a g a r a 



Maddening' against the gate that h locked 
athwart his way» 

** No ! we keep the bridge for them that 
can help him. You, 

Tell us, who ate you ? ** ** His brother !^ 
^* God help you both ! Pass through*^ 

"Wild, with wide arms of imploring, he 
calls aloud to him, 

Unto the face of his brother, scarce seen in 
the distance dim ; 

But in the roar of the rapids his fluttering 
words are lost 

As in a wind of autumn the leaves of au- 
tumn are tossed* 

And from the bridge he sees his brother 
sever the rope 

Holding him to the raft, and rise secure 
in his hope ; 

S^es all as in a dream the terrible page- 
antry, — 
96 



Poetry of 3^ i a g a, r a 



Populous shores, the woods, the sky, the 

birds flyingf free ; 
Sees, then, the form — that, spent with 

effort and fastingf and fear. 
Flings itself feebly and fails of the boat 

that is lying; so near — 
Caugfht in the longf-baffled clutch of the 

rapids, and rolled and hurled 
Headlong on the cataract's brink and out 

of the world* 

"William Dean Howells 



97 



Poetry of cJ^i a g a r a 



NIAGARA 



ORMED when the oceans were 
^ fashioned, when all the world was 
a workshop ; 
Loud roared the furnace fires, and tall 

leapt the smoke from volcanoes, 
Scooped were round bowls for lakes, and 

gfrooves for the sliding; of rivers, 
Whilst, with a cunningf hand, the moun- 
tains were linked together^ 

Then through the daw-dawn, lurid with 
cloud, and rent by forked lightning;. 

Stricken by earthquake beneath, above 
by the rattle of thunder. 

Sudden the clamour was pierced by a 
voice, dcep-lungfed and portentous — 
98 




VIEW FROM CANADA, 



Poetry of cfi.i a g a r a. 



Thine, O Niagara, cryingf: *'Now h 
created completed ! '^ 



JL 



Millions of cup-like jlossoms, brimmingf 

with dew and with rain-drops, 
Mingfle their tributes together to form 

one slow-trickling brooklet ; 
Thousands of brooklets and rills, leaping 

down from their home in the uplands. 
Grow to a smooth, blue river, serene, and 

flowing in silence^ 

Hundreds of smooth, blue rivers, flashing 

afar o'er the prairies. 
Darkening 'neath forests of pine, deep 

drowning the reeds in the marshes. 
Cleaving with noiseless sledge the rocks 

red-crusted with copper, 

99 



LofC. 



Poetry of d^i a g a r a. 



Circle at last to one common gfoal, the 
Mighty Sea-Water* 

Lo! to the northward outlyingf, wide 

glimmers the stretch of the Great Lake^ 
White-capped and sprinkled with foam, 

that tumbles its bellowing breakers 
Landward on beaches of sand, and in 

hiding-holes hollow with thunder, 
Landward where plovers frequent, with 

the wolf and the westering bison. 

Four such Sea-Waters as this, a chain of 

green land-bounden oceans. 
Pour into one their tides, ever yearning to 

greet the Atlantic, 
Press to one narrow sluice, and proffering 

their tribute of silver. 
Cry as they come : ** Receive us, Niagara, 

Father of Waters!'^ 

100 



Poetry of 3Ci a g a r a 



Such is the Iroquois ^od, the symhol of 

migfht and of plenty^ 
Shrine of the untutored brave, subdued 

by an unfathomed long^ing-, 
Seekingf in water and wind, still seeking- 

in star-gflow and ligfhtningf, 
Something to kneel to, something to pray 

to, something to worship. 

Here, when the world was wreathed with 

the scarlet and gold of October, 
Here, from far-scattered camps, came the 

moccasined tribes of the redman. 
Left in their tent their bows, forgot their 

brawls and dissensions. 
Ringed thee with peaceful fires, and over 

their calumets pondered ; 

Chose from their fairest virgins the fair- 
est and purest among them. 



Poetry of cNii a g a r a 



Hollowed a birchen canoe, and fashioned 

a seat for the vir gfin, 
Clothed her in white, and set her adrift to 

whirl to thy bosom, 
Sayingf : ** Receive this our vow, Niag-ara, 

Father of Waters!'' 

HL THE PILGRIM 

Pilgfrim I too once came, to tender my 

token of homagfe* 
I too once stood on thy wooded banks, 

my heart filled with wonder, 
I too would render some gift, some tribute 

of songf and of harp-stringfs. 
But 'neath the roll of thy wheels, my 

shepherd's flute was overmastered. 

Callingf, thou seemest to murmur : ** Come, 
and I will instruct thee!" 



Poetry of 9^ i a g a, r a. 



Willingf I ran^ like a palmer of old, with 

his pike-staff and wallet, 
Willingf I lingfered long, to go, but to turn 

on the morrow, 
Comingf again and again, — yet only to 

doubt thee more deeply^ 

Idol I found thee, unfeeling, challenging 

man but to mock him, 
"Whispering to one that is weak of voids 

that are vast and almighty. 
Hinting of things heaven-high to one 

not winged like an eagle, 
Telling of changeless parts to a leaflet that 

reddens to perish ; 

Ever, as nearer I fared, the mightier, less 

merciful found thee. 
Till, after listening long, I faltered, forlorn 

and disheartened; 

103 



Poetry of ^^ i a g a r a 



Wearied of ceaseless strife, and yearned for 

some peaceful seclusion, 
Where to the chorusingf throngf both ear 

and eye might be shuttered ; 

Hated the turmoil of life, where sounds 
that are sweetest are strangled, 

And into discord clash those martial meas- 
ures, that struggling. 

Should the din of the dismalest fight, 
with quavering echoes. 

Nerve the warrior anew? and fire his soul 
with devotion. 

Turning towards far-off fields, I fled, till, 

stopping to listen. 
Only dull undertones told that still thou 

wert calling and calling; 
Wept, and wished it mid-winter, that, 

muffled in snows of December, 
104 




PROSPECT POINT -WINTER. 



Poetry of cK,i a, g a, r a 



Ail the world might be smothered in 
silence utterly soundless; 

"Wished like a Druid to hie to some moun- 
tain-top shorn and unsheUered, 

Where^ in their wildest flights, the riotous 
winds might be stifled, 

Finding no hollow reed through which to 
pipe their bravuras, 

Finding no trembling twig on which to 
twang their lamentings* 

Then, as I crost a meadow-land, dight 
with mallow and daisies, 

Heard the low bumble of bees, and the 
delicate footsteps of robins 

That o'er the crispy leaves of the scrub- 
oak coverts went hopping. 

Suddenly — who shall explain it ? — faith 
returned to my bosom ; 



Poetry of cNii a g a r a 



Suddenly hope tcwivt6^f the fogf from the 

fens was uplifted^ 
Lost was the din of life that stormed and 

roared in the roadways^ 
Calm were the grassy fields^ a lullaby 

purred througfh the willows. 
And overhead the night was illumined 

with flickering beacons* 

IV. 

Often, in later years, allured by thy 

strange fascination, 
Often again have I come, with feet that 

would not turn backward ; 
Often knelt at thy feet, and sought with 

a lovcr^s persistence, 
Whether, beneath thy dolorous fugue, 

one promise was whispered. 



io6 



Poetry of cf^ i a g a r a. 



Hope there was none for me; augfust was 

the deep diapason, 
But ^t was the moan of the sea, the §frowI 

of the forest ttnfeelingf. 
Threat of the sulphurous skies that, when 

they are fevered and angfry, 
Volley the world with flame and curse 

mankind with their laughter. 

V. THE UPPER RAPIDS 

Still, with the wonder of boyhood, I fol- 
low the race of thy Rapids, 

Sirens that dance, and allure to destruc- 
tion — now lurking in shadows. 

Skirting the level stillness of pools and the 
treacherous shallows. 

Smiling and dimple-mouthed, coquetting, 
— now modest, now forward ; 



107 



Poetry of c^C i a g a r a 



Tenderly chantingf^ and such the thrall of 

the weird incantation, 
Thirst it awakes in each listener's soul, a 

feverish longfingf, 
Thougfhts all-absorhent, a torment that 

stingfs and ever increases, 
Burningf ambition to push bare-breast to 

thy perilous bosom^ 

Thus, in some midnight obscure, bent 

down by the storm of temptation 
(So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, 

confided the story). 
Pine-trees, thrusting; their way and tramp- 

lingf down one another. 
Curious, lean and listen, replying in sobs 

and in whispers ; 

Till of the secret possessed, which brings 
sure blight to the hearer 

loS 




CAVE OF THE WINDS -ROCK OF AGES, 



Poetry of cM^ i a g a r a. 



(So hath the wind^ in the beechen wood 

confided the story), 
Faltering't they stagfgfer brinkward — 

clutch at the roots of the grasses. 
Cry — a pitiful cry of remorse — and 

plungfe down in the darkness. 

Art thou, all-merciless then — a fiend, 

ever fierce for new victims ? 
"Was then the red-man ri§:ht (as yet it 

liveth in legend). 
That, ere each twelvemonth circles, still to 

thy shrine is allotted 
Blood of one human heart, as sacrifice 

due and demanded ? 

Butterflies have I followed, that, leaving 

the red-top and clover, 
Thinking the wind-harp thy voice, thy 

froth the fresh whiteness of daisies, 

109 



Poetry of cNi i d g a r 



Ventured too close^ grew giddy, and catch- 
ing cold drops on their pinions, 

Balanced — but vainly — and, falling, 
their scarlet was Blotted forever^ 

VL THE CATARACT 

Still to thy Fall I come near, as unto 

earth's grandest cathedral. 
Forehead uncovered, hands down, with 

feet that falter beneath me ; 
Hearing afar, o'^er the rustling grass and 

the rush of the river. 
Chorus triumphant, thy trumpet voice, 

and I tremble with v.reafcness» 

Tall above tower and tree looms thy 
steeple builded of sunshine. 

Mystical steeple, white like a cloud, up- 
yearning toward Heaven, 

no 



Poetry of cJ^i a g a r a 



Till into cloud-land it drifts^ uprollingf in 

hill-tops and headlands, 
Catches the gflory of sunset, then pales 

into rose-tint and purple^ 

Slowly thfougfh got hie aisles, I creep to 

the steps of thine altar, 
Halfway forgetting^ thy presence, though 

still with each step I draw nearer. 
Halfway forgetting thy voice, so far it 

sends fancy awandering. 
Till, with a sudden ascent, full-face thou 

standest before me* 

Who, upon tiptoes straining, shall snare 
the fleet course of the comet ! 

"Who, in bright pigments, shall match 
the luminous sun-god at mid-day! 

"Who shall dare picture in words the tur- 
bulent wrath of the tempest! 



Poetry of c7^ i a g a r a 



Seeing, I can but stand still, with fingfer 
on lip, and keep silent. 

VIL 

Lo ! dfiftingf toward us approaches a 

curious tangle of something ! 
"White and untillered it floats, bewitching 

the sight, and appearing 
Like to a birchen canoe, a virgin crouched 

pallid within it, 
Hastening with martyr zeal to solve the 

unriddled hereafter! 

Slower and smoother her flight, until on 

the precipice pausing. 
Just for the space of a breath the dread 

of the change seems to thrill her ; 
Crossing herself, and seeming to shudder, 

She lifts her eyes to Heaven — 



Poetry of c^{^i a g a r a 



Sudden a mist upwhirls — I see not — but 
know all is over* 

Stoop and explore the void where this 

vision of fancy hath vanished ! 
Torrents of §:reen and blue drench down 

the dizzy escarpment, 
Fall into shattered flakes, and merge into 

fury of snow-squalls ; 
Crisp, like gflaciers, they shatter, then 

smoke in the whirl of the vortex. 

Stoop and look down! and read, if you 
can, the terrible riddle! 

Nay, the secret of death by death's eyes 
alone can be fathomed; 

But o'er the mystery finished is fluttered 
the curtain Most Holy, 

And on this curtain is set the sig-n of re- 
demption — a rainbow. 

"3 



Poetry of cNii a g a r a 



SymBol of hope is this, or merely man's 
hopeful invention ? 

Thou hast no answer to that, beyond 
this dull undertone moaning : 

** Man, of all animate things the noblest, 
most meanly ignoble, 

Smiling only to tempt, and spoiling what- 
ever he embraces I '^ 

Is then thy bow we clasped as pledge of a 

promise unfailing. 
Naught but a sun-dog ferocious, that, 

mouthing the mariner's noonday, 
Kisses with lying lips the soft-sleeping 

clouds of midsummer. 
Only to taunt him, lulled by the calm, 

with an ambushed tornado ? 

Faith in thee have I none! I lift spent 
eyes, and, despairing, 

114 



T o e t r y of d^i a. g a r a 



Set my teeth in def iance^ Fate, then, the 

father of all things ! 
I but a victim moth, to be snatched by a 

merciless current, 
Drag:g:ed by cold eddies down, to be lost 

and forever forgfotten ! 

Why then this pilgfrimagfe here? God 

knows no willful self-seeking 
Lent us this restless life; and no faint heart 

or rebellion 
Gives us this fear to lie down, and rest in 

the slumberous dreamland ! — 
Answer, if answer thou hast! Answer, 

Niagara! answer! 

Weary with waiting, we climb to the 

hill-tops nearest to Heaven, 
Find only floating fogs, and air too 

meagre to nourish ; 

"5 



Poetry of cM^i a g a r a 



Seeking the depths of the sea, we drop 
ouf plummets and feel them, 

Draw them in empty, or yellowed with 
day, that melts and tells nothing: ; 

Forests we thread, wide prairies unfenced, 

and drenched morasses. 
Strike, with the fervour of youth, to the 

heart of the tenantless deserts ; 
Turn every boulder, still hopingf to find 

beneath them some prophet — 
Find only thistles unsunnM, green sloth, 

and passionless creatures* 

Youth flitted by us, we faint, then sink in 
the ruts of our fathers ; 

Shift as we may with the old beliefs, and 
beat on our bosoms ; 

Seek less and hunger less keenly, still sor- 
row for self and for others, 
ii6 



Poetry of c/^i a g a r a 



Striving', by travail and tears, life's deeper 
' meaning to strangle ; 

Drag from sunset to sunset, too fainting 

to fear for the morrow, 
Suffer, complain of our loads, but catch 

at their withes as they leave us. 
Letting the song-birds escape, perceiving 

not till they Ve fluttered — 
Bitterly weeping then, as we watch them 

die in the distance. 

Struggling, we snatch at straws: call out, 
expecting no answer ; 

Pray, but without any faith ; grow lag- 
gard and laugh at our anguish; 

Sin, and with wine-cup deadened, scoff at 
the dread of hereafter — 

And, because all seems lost, besiege Death's 
doorway with gladness. 

117 



T o e t r y of 3^ i a g a r a 



Better we had not been, for what is the 

gfoal of such stfivingf? 
Bubbles that glittei* perchance, to burst in 

thin air as they glitter! 
Comets that cleave the night, to leave the 

night but the darker ! 
Smudge that bursts into flame, but only 

in smoke to be smothered ! 

Out of the gifts of our spring, that only is 

beautiful, counted 
"With which the day-dawn breaks hu6f 

and dies ere the dewdrops have left it ; 
Smiles there no healthfuller clime, where 

forms that are fair never perish. 
But, in a life-giving ether, grow fairer 

with ripening seasons ? 



Iroquois God, I adore thee, because thou 
art lasting and mighty, 



Poetry of cM^i a, g a r a 



Tistti and g:a2e at thce^ §:oin§;, as on an all- 

mar vclotis vision^ 
Dread thee, thou art so serene — but hate 

thee with hatred most bitter, 
Taunter of all who dabble thy foam, and 

think to discover* 

VIIL THE GORGE 

'Neath the abyss lies the valley, a valley 
of darkness — a hades, 

"Where the spent stream, as it strives, seeks 
only an end to its anguish ; 

Who shall its fastnesses fathom, or tell 
what wrecks they envelop? 

Here 'neath the tides of time, life's rem- 
nants await resurrection* 

Deep is the way, and weary the way, 

whft^ tnftv c^hct^7P tt 



while lofty above it 



19 



Poetry of 3^ i a g a r a 



Frowns upon either hand, a cliff sheet- 
shouldered or beetlingf, 

Holdings in durance forever the course of 
the will-broken exile, 

Blighting; all hope of return, should it 
pant for the flowering; pastures* 

But from the brinks lean down a few 
slender birches and cedars, 

Dazed by the depth and the gfloom of the 
channel resounding beneath them ; 

Here campanulas, too, which lurk wher- 
ever is dangfer. 

Stoop with a smile of hope, reflecting the 
blue of the heavens* 



Fleeter still flies the flood, up-heaving its 

scum at the centre. 
Dragging the tides from the shores to 

leave them a hand-breadth the lower ; 




WHIRLPOOL %APIDS. 



Poetry of cf^i a g a, r a 



"While, like a serpent of yellow, the spume 
crooks down to the Whirlpool, 

Trails with a zigfzagfgfing- motion down to 
the hideous "Whirlpool* 

IX. THE WHIRLPOOL 

Here is the end of all things, of all things 

another beginning, 
Here the long valley crooks, and the 

flight of the river is broken ; 
Round is the cavernous pool, and in at 

one side leaps the river. 
Headlong it plunges, despairing, and beats 

on the bars of its prison j 

Beats, and runs wildly from wall to wall, 

then strives to recover. 
Beats on another still, and around the 

circle is carried. 



Poetry of cH.i a g a r a 



Jostled from shoulder to shoulder, till 
losing its gfallopingf motion, 

Dizzily round it swirls, and is dragged to- 
ward the hideous "Whirlpool. 

Lofty the rock-walls loom, the narrow 

outlet concealing, 
Loftier still stoop pines, that shut out the 

pity of sunlight ; 
Whilst above both a shadow, as if from 

the wings of a vulture. 
Sheds over all below a pall more spectral 

than midnight* 



Up from the seething witch-pot arises a 

sulphurous vapour, 
Smoke-clouds slow-winged drift hither 

and hence, revealing, now hiding : 
Whilst from the hollow depths, that hiss 

from some under-world fervour^ 



122 



Poetry of cNii a g a, r a 



Bubble, in torrents black, the refuse of 
wreck and corruption. 

Round sweeps the horrible maelstrom, and 

into the whirl of its vortex 
Circle a broken boat, an oar-blade, thing^s 

without number; 
Striving:, they shove one another, and 

seem to hurry, impatient 
To measure the shadowy will-be, and 

seek from their torment a respite. 

Logs that have leapt the Falls and swum 

unseen 'neath the current. 
Here are restored agfain, and weird is their 

resurrection; 
Here like straws they are snapt, and 

grinding: like millstones togfether, 
Chafingf and splintering; their mates, they 

wade in their deepening: ruins; 

123 



Poetry of 3^1 a g a r a 



Till, without hope, on tiptoe they rise, 
lips shriveled and speechless, 

Seeingf sure fate before them that tightens 
its toils to ensnare them; 

Hollow the hell-hoIe gapes, and raven- 
ously it receives them — 

All that is left is a sigh, and the echoes of 
that are soon strangled* 

X. CONCLUSION 

This, then, can this he the end? and death 
but a blotting forever ? 

Turning, a bird was beside me, and strik- 
ing a delicate measure. 

Clearly it whistled — a herald-like strain, 
that challenged a hearer. 

Sung — 'twas a broken song — and stop- 
in g, far distant, it fluttered* 



124 



"Poetry of ^i d g a r a 



*^ Seek within ! ** was the messagfe, *' with- 
out is only reflection ; 

Sinless ate nature's forms, and therefore 
utterly soulless ; 

Sin may debase thee, make thee the ser- 
vant of Fate and of Nature — 

But to thy height arise, and thou art of 
all thingfs creator* 

**That alone is augfust which is g:azed 
upon by the noble, 

That alone is gladsome which eyes full 
of gladness discover ; 

Night-time is but a name for the dark- 
ness man nurtures within him, 

Storm but a symbol of sin in a soul that 
IS stained and unshriven* 

^ Act but thine own true part, as He who 
created hath purposed, 

125 



T o e t r y of c^i a g a r a 


Then are the waters thine, the winds, all 


forces of nature; 


Thine too the seasons, their fraits, which 


they redden but to surrender. 


Thine too the years, and thine all time — 


everlasting: and fearless/' 


George Houghton 


126 



Poetry of cHii a g a r a 



NIAGARA 



^^^^ERE speaks the voice of God — let 
'Jg^g man be dumb, 

Nor with his vain aspiring hither come. 

That voice impels the hollow-soundingf 
floods, 

And like a presence fills the distant woods* 



These groaning rocks the Almighty^s fin- 
ger piled ; 

For ages here his painted bow has smiled. 

Mocking the changes and the chance of 
time — 

Eternal, beautiful, serene, sublime. 

Willis G. aar k 



27 



Poetry of cNii a g a r a 



NIAGARA^S EVERLASTING 
VOICE 



^^mi OW sweet h would be, when all the 

JKkji^J air, 
In moonlight swims alongf the river. 
To couch upon the §:rass and hear 
Niagara's everlasting" voice 
Far in the deep blue West away ; 
That dreamy and poetic noise 
We mark not in the glare of day — 
Oh, how unlike its torrent-cry 
When o'er the brink the tide is driven. 
As if the vast and sheeted sky 
In thunder fell from Heaven ! 

Joseph Rodman Drake 



128 






% 










s'S^^ .,.« "^^ 



\/ y^', "w^ -^^ \/ .-afe" ^ 










^-. 



' '^^ %'^^%^^/ '^^' '^ -.^^^Z ^.^'^^'^ ^•'^^♦* 'i^' 



^"^-^^ 



***** ^ 




^^.^ 
















•P^ .i 






I '\.^ =' Jfe- X..^-^* .^M^°= %.a'' /Jfe\ ^ 






^^. 










*>. <V ^J. » " » A'' 



